Investigation of military labs by CDC growing

Concerns about handling of toxins

WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding an investigation into possible mishandling and improper shipment by Defense Department laboratories of organisms that cause deadly diseases, including plague and encephalitis, U.S. officials said.

Concerns about the handling of those samples led the Army to announce a moratorium on production, shipping and handling of toxins at nine labs recently. But officials did not acknowledge until Thursday that plague and encephalitis samples were involved.

When asked why the Pentagon didn’t initially disclose the new concerns about plague and encephalitis, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said officials were trying to be as forthcoming as possible “without alarming the public.” He added that officials are waiting for the results of the investigation.

In a statement Thursday, the CDC said it was investigating four Defense Department labs as a result of spot checks at two facilities. The Army said the spot checks were at Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center near the Aberdeen Proving Ground and the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, both in Maryland.

“CDC has identified a number of transfers of concern involving multiple organisms,” the CDC said, adding that the investigation is trying to determine whether there are record-keeping or quality management problems or if there were shipment violations involving the toxins. “At this time, there is nothing to suggest risk to the health of workers or the general public.”

According to the CDC, most of the transfers were between Defense Department facilities.

In a statement, the Army said the CDC raised questions about a particular organism that causes plague, known as Yersinia pestis, during an Aug. 17 inspection at Edgewood. The CDC questioned whether the organism was fully virulent, though it was stored in an area designated for nonfully virulent materials.

Cook said he believes that a sample was in a freezer in a controlled setting but outside a containment area, and the CDC questioned whether it was an infectious form of plague.

The Army said initial tests suggest that the strain was not fully virulent, and the CDC is working to verify those tests.

“There is no indication that anyone has been exposed from handling this strain and no one has become sick,” the Army said, adding that the sample was immediately contained and properly stored.

In addition, the Army said the CDC questioned the labeling of a strain of equine encephalitis viruses and whether it was properly handled.

Asked about the encephalitis sample, Cook said: “My understanding is that the way this first came to light was a CDC spot inspection of this facility and that the CDC looked at the freezer area where this sample was being held and then checked against the inventory logbook and raised questions about whether or not what was listed in the inventory as noninfectious was, in fact, noninfectious, and that started this testing process.”

The Army said it believes that the materials were properly handled and that no researchers were exposed.

“These developments directly contributed to the Army’s decision to issue last week’s safety review and the extension of the existing moratorium on the handling of select agents and toxins,” the Army said.

The questions about plague and encephalitis samples were first reported by USA Today.

Earlier this month, Army Secretary John McHugh ordered a safety stand-down and directed a review at nine department labs involved in the production, shipment or handling of biological toxins and suspended operations involving critical toxins at four of the labs.

His order expanded an initial moratorium announced in July, which suspended activities with anthrax. The announcement involving the nine labs noted that the stand-down came after the CDC found problems with record-keeping at Edgewood and USAMRIID. But it did not reveal that plague and encephalitis samples were involved and that those concerns, in part, triggered the stand-down.

Cook said he believes that Ebola is not among the toxins involved in the investigation.